Enid Lee is a keynote speaker for this year’s CABE Conference (California Association for Bilingual Education).CABE 2018 offers hundreds of Workshops and Institutes on Key Strategies for ELs and Biliteracy Programs

Yesterday remembering the death of Memphis Sanitation Workers 50 years ago was important. Today let us continue by facing and uprooting the deep-seated racism that was connected with the death of these sanitation workers.

At the annual California Association for Bilingual Education (CABE) conference, Enid Lee received the organization’s 2017 Legacy Award. It was presented by Annie Rodriguez, CABE Board Vice President on March 31, 2017. The award dedication and Enid Lee’s remarks are included in the video below.

Equity is one of the foundational elements of a quality education. Enidlee Consultants supports School Districts in embedding equity in all of its practices through a range of consulting services including monthly on-site visits, on demand coaching, and ongoing assessments of growth and the accomplishment of equity goals.

As I travel across the country offering workshops on race and equity in education, invariably I am asked, “How can I deal with challenging students.” Generally the person asking the question is referring to African American male students.

The July 2016 Vox article, "I'm a black ex-cop, and this is the real truth about race and policing" is a must read to understand the history and current reality of race and policing. Written by retired police officer Redditt Hudson, the article is long but so well structured and thoughtful that you can read it in sections and not lose your train of thought. Here are a few quotes that remain with me.

On June 16, 2016 Enid Lee was celebrated as one of 100 black women who made significant contributions to Canadian Society. She was nominated and selected to be included in the 2016 edition of 100 Accomplished Black Canadian Women.

“As a 65-year-old foot soldier in the struggle for racial justice and educational equity, I decided to take 65 of my favorite children's books to the Black History Event entitled ‘We are History’ at Alvarado Elementary School,” explained educator Enid Lee. The event was hosted by the African American Parent Forum with a focus on literacy. The books highlight the Black experience in the United States, Canada, Africa, and the Caribbean.

The most recent racist rhetoric around exclusion of Syrian refugees reminded me of a kindergarten class I visited about 15 years ago. At that time, refugees were fleeing Kosovo. The kindergarten teacher often used current events to connect her students with the world and to nurture empathy and equity-centered emotions in their hearts and minds.

Halfway through reading Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption I wanted to hop on a plane and fly to wherever Stevenson was to say, “How can I help?” Stevenson has written an incredibly moving narrative of the injustice that is visited by the justice system on some of the most vulnerable, including:

It's not okay! None of it is okay! As we return to classrooms this week, I ask all teachers and administrators to avoid a practice that I have noted in far too many classrooms. When we want our students' attention, I have seen teachers ask students to freeze and to put their hands above their heads. The students look exactly like the terrorized children in Ferguson and in the video below.

On June 16, Rush Limbaugh devoted a long segment of his show to tell his listeners that Teaching for Change is racist for featuring children’s books by and about people of color at their bookstore in Washington, DC. In the days that followed, Limbaugh's listeners called Teaching for Change with hateful messages and threats, including "drop dead."

In the face of Chicago Board of Education plans to close 50 public schools—teachers, parents, and students have rallied to protest what Chicago Teachers’ Union president Karen Lewis describes as a “scorched earth policy.”